In and Out of Kobe.

Kobe: Tamamura, Photographer,, 1907. First edition, first printing, of this scarce photobook, with a single copy recorded on WorldCat (Museum Rietberg, Switzerland), and copies likewise seldom encountered in commerce. The high-quality captioned photographs show views of old commercial streets including Motomachi and the Kobe Bund, as well as waterfalls, Shinto shrines, the Moon Temple, the bustling theatre quarter, the city's large Buddhist idol erected in 1892, and the picturesque Himeji Castle. Takagi Teijiro (born c.1875) studied under the celebrated photographer Kozaburo Tamamura, managing the Tamamura branch store in Kobe until the 20th century when he became its owner and assumed the right to use the Tamamura name. He is known to have produced at least 30 different photobooks in English introducing Japanese culture and customs. Takagi continued to use the Tamamura name until 1914 when he began trading as the T. Takagi Photographic Studio & Art Gallery. His studio operated until at least 1929. This copy is signed on the front pastedown, "G. H. Lees", perhaps the G. H. Lees recorded as a partner of the Penang-based Pritchard & Co. department store in the early twentieth century. Landscape octavo. Original gold thread musubi toji binding, illustrated boards, front cover lettered in silver, black silk at spine ends. With 20 tissue-guarded hand-coloured collotypes after photographs by the author, folding advertising leaf at rear. Boards faded and rubbed at extremities, illustrations bright, pages slightly crinkled, faint tidemarks on couple of leaves slightly affecting images. A very good copy with the original binding pleasingly intact.